British Airways

Conrad Hilton, the younger brother of pseudo-celebrity Paris Hilton, appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday, charged with assaulting and harassing the flight crew of a British Airways flight from London to LAX in July of last year.
Hilton, the great grandson of Hilton Hotels chain founder Conrad Hilton, was led into court with his hands and feet shackled. The charge of interfering with a flight crew carries a penalty …

Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus is giving serious consideration to a new takeover bid from British Airways parent IAG, its board of directors said.
IAG, which also owns Iberia in Spain, is said to have offered €2.55 per share in an all-cash deal that includes a cash dividend of €0.05 per share, thus valuing Aer Lingus at €1.36 billion ($1.53 billion).
Last year, Aer Lingus rejected two bids from IAG because they …

British Airways parent IAG confirmed it had “submitted a proposal to make an offer” for Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus, and that it had been rejected by Aer Lingus’ board of directors. IAG said that it had no specific plans to revise its offer.
“There can be no certainty that any further proposal or offer will be forthcoming,” the airline said in a statement
Aer Lingus said it had rejected the takeover …

Hours after a power failure shut down London’s airspace, causing delays and cancellations at five London airports including Heathrow, Europe’s busiest hub, authorities began to restore service in the region.
Earlier on Friday, flights in and out of London were disrupted after London’s airspace was shut down due to a computer failure. Eurocontrol, the European air control agency, said there had been a power outage at the NATS control center at …

British Airways announced the launch of Airbus A380 superjumbo service on its route between London Heathrow and Washington Dulles International Airport.
The airline will operate the A380 on five flights a week between the two capital cities through the end of October, at which point the A380 service will begin to operate daily. The flights will be in addition to the carrier’s daily Boeing 747 service, and its thrice weekly 777 …

The Lobby Bar – A Mockingly Deviant Weekly Summary of FBT News and Views
Time Compression. How much in-flight service can an airline squeeze into an hour-long flight? Jonathan Spira flies from New York to Montreal in Air Canada’s Business Class cabin, where he somehow consumes three meals and manages a four-hour nap in under 48 minutes. Fortunately, he wasn’t offered a thin mint.
Goldilocks and the three pillows. Christian Stampfer peruses …

British Airways said it will begin operating its San Francisco-London flights on an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger jet, next year.
The jumbo jet will go into service on the route in April 2015, marking the first time that an A380 serves this particular route.
BA currently operates the A380 on two routes, London-Los Angeles and London-Hong Kong. It is adding A380 service to Washington, D.C. on October 2 and to …

Perhaps one of the last things travelers think of when planning a trip is hotel security, but it is not a trivial matter. The joy and excitement from a day of adventures or successful business meetings will quickly dissipate if upon your return you find the room has been ransacked, or worse, that there is an intruder in the room.
Most hotels continually review and update their safety and security protocols, …

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the day on which smoking on U.S. domestic flights ceased.
On February 25, 1990, all U.S. domestic flights became no smoking, thanks to a law sponsored by Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representative Richard Durbin.
The bill passed despite the objections of tobacco-state lawmakers.
Former smoker Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey was the bill’s sponsor in the Senate in 1989. “The American people are overwhelmingly in …